The Orange Grove: Teamsters favor worth a trade war?

President Barack Obama, left, speaks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at Los Pinos presidential residency during a joint news conference Thursday, April 16, 2009 in Mexico City. President Obama is in Mexico for a brief official visit on his way to attend the Summit of the Americas in the Caribbean. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Barack Obama and his minions in Congress are very beholden to Big Labor, and have been giving unions as many goodies as possible. One was a payback for the Teamsters union, and it is a favor that likely will cost the rest of us a bundle.

The Teamsters have fought bitterly to end the pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to haul cargo in the U.S. Allowing Mexican truckers to compete for American routes was part of the NAFTA deal, but the Teamsters blocked it, arguing that Mexican trucks are too "unsafe" for American roads. So a compromise program was set up a year and a half ago, allowing some Mexican trucks to drive American routes, under rigid and closely monitored safety regulations.

The results of this trial are clear. The Mexican carriers are at least as safe as their American competitors. But the Democrats don't care - their claim that Mexican truckers are dangerous was always just a phony rationalization for naked protectionism on behalf of the Teamsters, who contribute tons of money every election.

So a provision to kill the program was put by the Democrats into the $410 billion spending bill that Obama recently signed. The Teamsters were gleeful, reveling in their power to force the federal government to kill off their competition.

But Mexico was not amused. Economy Minister Ruiz Mateos called the bill protectionist and said it violated the NAFTA agreement. Mexico immediately imposed tariffs on American goods in retaliation. Given that Mexico is our third-largest trading partner, this reaction is not a minor matter. These tariffs will hit over $2.4 billion in products from 40 states and will cost our farmers and manufacturers plenty in lost sales.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa taunted the Mexicans, saying "the right response from Mexico would be to make sure its drivers and trucks are safe enough to use our highways without endangering our drivers." That response overlooks the fact that Mexican trucks have proven to be no hazard. The arrogant Hoffa can have his laugh, but the rest of us will likely pay heavily the cost of the trade war he and his Democratic lackeys have brought us.

The tariffs Mexico has imposed are steep. Grapes produced here will be hit with a 45 percent tariff, meaning Mexican grocery stores will stop buying from California and buy instead from Chile or elsewhere. Ninety other products now have tariffs of 10 percent to 20 percent, which means that our producers will be at a decisive disadvantage to their international competitors.

For instance, such agricultural products as apricots, cherries, Christmas trees, potatoes and wine are now hit with tariffs, as are such nonagricultural products as coffee makers, deodorants, mineral water, shampoo, telecom equipment, toilet paper and toothpaste.

This is only the first round of tariffs. Mexico says that if these tariffs don't get us to live up to the deal we negotiated and signed, it will impose tariffs far more widely. Quite frankly, they are tired of being denied access to our markets, while they allow access to theirs. Earth to Obama: Mexico has protectionists, too.

Obama has been playing the protectionist card, and doing it for union support, all along. He voted in the Senate against the Mexican truckers in 2002. He also campaigned against Hillary Clinton on a pledge to renegotiate NAFTA, which he falsely claimed cost the American economy a million jobs and caused the Midwest to become a rust belt. And to get Teamster support in the primaries, Obama agreed to oppose the free-trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea.

Obama made a deal with the devil, and the devil now demands payment. The payment will be a trade war, unless Obama summons the will to say no to the Teamsters and other protectionist groups.

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